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In memory of Jim Schofield who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
A partnership between Leeds Beckett University, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the Fire Brigades Union and community theatre group Brave Words will honour firefighter James “Jim” Potter Schofield on the 133rd anniversary of his death by installing a red plaque in his honour in his home city of Leeds this weekend.
On the 13th January 1892 James and the other members of the Liverpool, London and Globe Fire Insurance Company attended a massive fire which engulfed Leeds railway station from below when hundreds of tons of tallow and grease caught fire in the Dark Arches under the station. James was lost when the platform collapse and he plummeted in to the inferno below. His body was found sometime later as the fire took several days to bring under control and it was apparent from his location that he had made a valiant effort to escape the flames but had eventually succumbed. It is said over 20,000 people lined the streets of Leeds for his funeral.
William Schofield, James brother, and also a fireman in the Liverpool, London and Globe Fire Insurance Company, said later: My brother, and I have been in the service of the company as a fireman for twenty years. I was with him on duty at the fire in the Midland Railway Station. He took the jet from me, and I never saw him again. People who saw the accident said that about two minutes after he took the jet the platform gave way and he fell in.
The following week, Jim was buried in the family plot at Beckett Street Cemetery, with 20,000 people turning out to watch the procession. Jim’s coffin, draped in the Union Jack flag, wreaths and his helmet, was carried on the back of his horse-drawn fire engine, and was joined by firefighters from across the service. A public fund later raised money for a memorial which was erected in Woodhouse Cemetery as a permanent tribute to Jim and six other Leeds firefighters who lost their lives.
On the 11 January 2025, a plaque will be unveiled at the Dark Arches entrance to the Leeds Station, off Neville Street, as part of the Red Plaque Scheme, funded by the Firefighters 100 Lottery, which remembers fallen firefighters and honours their sacrifice.
A partnership between Leeds Beckett University, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the Fire Brigades Union and community theatre group Brave Words will honour firefighter James “Jim” Potter Schofield on the 133rd anniversary of his death by installing a red plaque in his honour in his home city of Leeds this weekend.
On the 13th January 1892 James and the other members of the Liverpool, London and Globe Fire Insurance Company attended a massive fire which engulfed Leeds railway station from below when hundreds of tons of tallow and grease caught fire in the Dark Arches under the station. James was lost when the platform collapse and he plummeted in to the inferno below. His body was found sometime later as the fire took several days to bring under control and it was apparent from his location that he had made a valiant effort to escape the flames but had eventually succumbed. It is said over 20,000 people lined the streets of Leeds for his funeral.
William Schofield, James brother, and also a fireman in the Liverpool, London and Globe Fire Insurance Company, said later: My brother, and I have been in the service of the company as a fireman for twenty years. I was with him on duty at the fire in the Midland Railway Station. He took the jet from me, and I never saw him again. People who saw the accident said that about two minutes after he took the jet the platform gave way and he fell in.
The following week, Jim was buried in the family plot at Beckett Street Cemetery, with 20,000 people turning out to watch the procession. Jim’s coffin, draped in the Union Jack flag, wreaths and his helmet, was carried on the back of his horse-drawn fire engine, and was joined by firefighters from across the service. A public fund later raised money for a memorial which was erected in Woodhouse Cemetery as a permanent tribute to Jim and six other Leeds firefighters who lost their lives.
On the 11 January 2025, a plaque will be unveiled at the Dark Arches entrance to the Leeds Station, off Neville Street, as part of the Red Plaque Scheme, funded by the Firefighters 100 Lottery, which remembers fallen firefighters and honours their sacrifice.
